


Human Error

by Aki (Akiko_Natsuko), Akiko_Natsuko



Series: 365 Days of Fandom [7]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mistakes, Protectiveness, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 16:48:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17348906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Aki, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: “That’s human error, Connor,” Hank cut him off, refusing to let Connor overanalyse and blame himself. “It’s a very human error, especially in that kind of situation.” Seeing that Connor still wasn’t convinced, although his LED was settling back into yellow, he sighed and moved so that he could tug him into a hug, just as he had after the revolution had ended. Just like then Connor immediately melted into the embrace, leaning into him with a sigh. “You made a mistake, Kid, and you’ll learn from it, and that’s a good thing.”





	Human Error

 

_What the fuck happened?_

    Hank blinked, his ears ringing and spots of light seeming to dance in front of his eyes as he slowly lifted his head, startled to realise that he was flat on the ground, sprawled out on his stomach. _How did I get here?_ A quiet groan above him, and an unfortunately familiar weight across his back were the next things to register, and he stiffened. Not again. This had happened far to often, he thought, his mind sluggishly getting into gear…

_The 999 calls about an anti-android group gathering in the centre of Detroit._

_Connor’s tight, worried expression as they’d been driving to the scene._

_The sight of an android trapped by humans when they arrived._

_Connor sprinting forward, Hank cursing as he followed._

_The angry voices as they recognised Connor._

_Guns. Spotted a second before they fired._

_A heavy weight slamming into him._

_Falling with a shout._

_Connor._

    That was enough to get him moving because he had been with his partner long enough to know exactly what had happened…what the idiot had done. He shook his head, feeling slightly dizzy as he pushed himself up. The first thing he saw when he lifted his head was the familiar, reassuring lights of Detroit police, and he was torn between relief that the cavalry had arrived and irritation that once again they had arrived after he and Connor had walked head first into trouble. However, as they seemed to be rounding up the group, it meant that he could focus on Connor, slowly pushing the weight off his back as he sat up, and taking a deep, shaky breath as his partner protested the movement even as he wiggled to try and make it easier for Hank.

_He’s alive._

     That thought carried far too much relief, but he wasn’t about to consider what that meant right now, blinking as he realised there was something damp trickling down the side of his face. With a grimace he reached up, expecting his fingertips to come away blue and perversely happy to see his own blood instead. He must’ve landed badly, but a quick poke confirmed it wasn’t too bad, although no doubt it would bleed more than it should – still no doubt it would have Connor in a tizzy, as the Android tended to overreact to anything like that. Speaking of which… Hank frowned, surprised that he didn’t already have Connor flapping around him, and he twisted, trying to ignore the slight dizziness that caused.

“Connor?” He demanded, only to falter as he saw the pain in his partner’s face, followed by the guilt at being caught before Connor managed to coax his expression into something approximating his usual calm expression. It didn’t hide the pain in the overly bright eyes or the slightly furrowed brow that Hank had learned to look for after learning that his partner was more than willing to hide all and any discomfort if he thought that he could get away with it. _He’s hurt._ His eyes darted across his partner, searching for the telling splash of blue against the white shirt and pristine suit that Connor had refused to abandon even now he could choose his own clothes. “Where are you h…?” The question trailed off, rendered moot as Connor had shifted, plain flickering over his pain as he automatically reached for the source of the pain, gripping his arm tightly. “Damn it, kid.”

“I apologise Lieutenant.”

“Hank,” Hank growled pointedly even as he scooted across to his partner, reaching out and gently nudging Connor’s hand out of the way so that he could see the injury, no longer recoiling at the sight of blue blood and wires sparking within the hole that had been left in synthetic skin.

“I apologise, Hank,” Connor corrected himself obediently, deliberately ignoring the fact that Hank hadn’t wanted the apology at all, and when Hank looked up there was a wry smile on his partner’s lips, and he shook his head, irritation fading as he fought to keep his own lips from quirking. “I reacted too slowly.” That was more genuine, dismay colouring the words, and Hank rolled his eyes, knowing that no human and even most Androids would have been slower than Connor, but he also knew that wasn’t what Connor wanted to hear right then.

“You reacted faster than me,” he settled for pointing out, muttering an apology when his gentle examination drew a hiss from his partner, wondering yet again who had decided that it was a good idea to design Connor to feel pain as acutely as any human.

“Not fast enough,” Connor repeated, and when Hank glanced at him again it was to find his partner staring at his face, and he didn’t need the guilty expression on Connor’s face to know that he was looking at the wound.

“It’s a scratch.” He’d had worse from Sumo getting too excited and knocking him flying, and he’d definitely had worse on the job, and considering that today could’ve ended with him on the pavement riddled with bullets, he would take what he had. “Yours?” He demanded. It looked relatively clean to him, but Connor was still losing blue blood, and he hadn’t made any effort to pull away and dismiss the wound like he usually would.

“It’s not serious,” Connor reported, eyes taking on the distant gaze that said he was running diagnostics, and Hank waited, knowing better than to relax just yet as they often had very different definitions of ‘serious’. Especially, when it came to Connor’s wellbeing, and he was unsurprised when Connor grimaced and blinked. “I will require assistance to stop the bleeding, and a minor component has been destroyed. I can function without it though until it can be replaced.”

_Until it can be replaced._

_UNTIL IT CAN BE REPLACED._

     Those words, spoken so calmly and with such faith, resonated with Hank and he stiffened, fingers tightening on Connor’s arm. He made it sound so easy, as though it was just another routine matter, but it wasn’t…not anymore, and the words exploded out of him, too loud and too sharp.

“You idiot!”

“Lieutenant?” Hank’s eyes twitched at the slip back to the formal address, but he let it go this time as there were more important things to focus on. Although he hoped that eventually, Connor would lose the default of slipping back into formality when he was uncertain, and just say that he didn’t understand, but baby steps and all that.

“Did you ever stop to think about what happened if you were d…injured badly enough to need repairs?” He asked, changing his choice of words at the last minute. _Damaged_ was too impersonal, and it brought to mind too many instances of Connor in his arms, blue blood on his lips because the idiot had pushed too hard or chosen to protect Hank over his mission.   _Like today,_ he thought bitterly, gaze darting to back to the wound, and down to the flecks of blue that now dotted both their hands and he had to look away.

“I calculated the likelihood of that, and…”

“Did. You. Stop. To. Think. What. Would. Happen?” Hank knew that his voice was rising and that he is drawing attention from the officers around him, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want to hear about calculations and percentages, or to be reminded that Connor still often viewed his own life in those terms, while placing Hank’s life at a higher importance. That had never sat well with him, although it helped ease his attitude towards the android, but now, it left bile in his mouth, and he had to turn away, shoulders shuddering as he tried to reign in his emotions. “Did you consider the fact that Cyberlife is no longer there to fix you up and send you back to me.” He hadn’t meant to add those last two words, but they had slipped out regardless and he couldn’t, wouldn’t take them back. “That Markus and the others might not have any parts that are compatible with you?”

    He wasn’t sure when the thought had first occurred to him. Perhaps when he’d first heard that the old Cyberlife building was being transformed into a hospital for the newly freed androids, with Markus and the others spreading the word that any android that had been damaged, whether for the revolution or before would find parts, and blue blood waiting for them. Or, maybe it had been the other night when Connor had woken them both in the early hours, crying out from another nightmare where his fight with the more advanced RK900 had gone poorly… _’They created him to be better than me, I was just a test subject for him…so if I had lost…’_ Connor’s shaky, broken voice replayed through his mind, and he sighed. It was one of many things that haunted Connor even with peace now established, something that they were slowly trying to work through. A thought that Hank was desperately trying to erase, because Connor was more – so much more, than a mere prototype….

  _But he is a prototype…_

    That was something that couldn’t be denied or ignored. Connor was one of a kind, unique, built to be different than the Androids he was tasked with hunting. Which for the most part was fine, and it helped a little with making Connor understand that he was different, that he was unique… that he was his own person, separate from the other Androids he knew. However, what it meant was that if he was seriously damaged. If he protected Hank at the cost of his own health or life, then there might not be the materials to repair him. Before they’d had Cyberlife to fall back on, but now not only had the company been driven out of Detroit, but considering Connor’s role in the matter, it was doubtful they would be willing to help anyway.

    It was something Hank had meant to bring up with Markus at some point, but he hadn’t had a chance before this had happened.

“I-I…” Connor started and then trailed off, his LED flickering between red and yellow, his mouth open as he stared at Hank. “I did not take that into consideration,” he admitted in a small voice, glancing away, and his LED was largely red now…as were his cheeks, and Hank blinked.

_Connor made a mistake._

    It wasn’t funny, not really, especially with what had just happened and the very real ramifications of what a serious injury could have meant for Connor. However, even as Connor had worked on loosening up, and becoming ‘more human’ whatever that meant, he had never been able to lose his over-analytical side, always able to sprout statistics, and multiple scenarios without hesitation. Without error.

Until today.

    Connor looked lost, glancing between Hank, his injury and the people being shepherded towards the waiting police cars, and Hank could practically see the cogs turning, and he couldn’t help it. He laughed. It started as a chuckle, then built into a guffaw until he was leaning against Connor, still mindful of the injury and wrapping an injury around his shoulders.

“So, you are human after all.”

“Lieut…. Hank?” Connor corrected himself, the confusion evident in both his voice and expression as he glanced at Hank in bemusement, although there was the usual warmth in his eyes. The flicker of joy that he didn’t quite dare express at being told he was ‘human’ and Hank sobered a little at the sight of it, although he was still smiling as he squeezed Connor’s shoulders.

“You made a mistake.” He kept his voice deliberately gentle, pleased to see a few more flickers of yellow in the LED. “In the heat of the moment, and worried about me…” There was no denying that point anymore for either of them, and Connor nodded slightly, eyes flicking back to the gash on his forehead for a moment. “You made a mistake.”

“But…”

“That’s human error, Connor,” Hank cut him off, refusing to let Connor overanalyse and blame himself. “It’s a very human error, especially in that kind of situation.” Seeing that Connor still wasn’t convinced, although his LED was settling back into yellow, he sighed and moved so that he could tug him into a hug, just as he had after the revolution had ended. Just like then Connor immediately melted into the embrace, leaning into him with a sigh. “You made a mistake, Kid, and you’ll learn from it, and that’s a good thing.” He still meant to make sure that Connor didn’t make that mistake again, and they both needed to get patched up sooner rather than later, but as he heard Connor hum in agreement, still leaning into the embrace, he smiled.


End file.
